Every boy and girl in each parish recite this to the vicar or curé
after vespers in their tiny voices as a commandment of God and of the
Church, as a supplementary article of the creed. Meanwhile the
officiating priest in the pulpit gravely comments on this article,
already clear enough, at every morning or evening service;[109] by
order, he preaches in behalf of the conscription and declares that it
is a sin to try to escape from it, to be refractory; by order, again,
he reads the army bulletins giving accounts of the latest victories;
always by order, he reads the last pastoral letter of his bishop, a
document authorized, inspired and corrected by the police. Not only
are the bishops obliged to submit their pastoral letters and public
instructions to the censorship; not only by way of precaution, are
they forbidden to print anything except on the prefecture presses, but
again, for still greater security, the bureau of public worship is
constantly advising them what they must say. First and foremost, they
must laud the Emperor. But in what terms, and with what epithets,
without indiscretion or mistake, in order not to meddle with politics,
not to appear as a party managed from above, not to pass for
megaphones, is not explained, and is therefore a difficult matter.
"You must praise the Emperor more in your pastoral letters," said
Réal, prefect of police, to a new bishop. "Tell me in what measure."
"I do not know," was the reply. Since the measure cannot be
prescribed, it must be ample enough. There is no difficulty as regards
other articles. - On every occasion the Paris offices take care to
furnish each bishop with a ready-made draft of his forthcoming
pastoral letter - the canvas on which the customary flowers of
ecclesiastical amplification are to be embroidered. It differs
according to time and place. In La Vendée and in the west, the
prelates are to stigmatize "the odious machinations of perfidious